Many of us are familiar with the traditional Eastertide ceremonies, however Guido Lanfranco shares some little known and possibly forgotten rituals with Veronica Stivala.

As we move further away from the Second Vatican Council (1965), memories of Catholic traditions prior to this radical religious milestone fade more and more as less of us remember them. The number of people who remember Mass in Latin, and when the priest gave the congregation his back, is constantly on the decline.

So is the number of people who remember a time when the parish priest would visit one’s home not solely to bless it but to also check that one’s behaviour was up to scratch, and thus ‘qualified’ to receive Holy Communion during Easter time.

Folklore writer Guido Lanfranco has a wealth of information on Easter traditions of yore, thanks partially to the extensive research he has conducted and books he has written (25), but also thanks to his impressive memory.

He recounts Maltese Easter traditions from memory, hardly ever consulting notes. For a man who turns 84 this year, he doesn’t look a day older than 70 and leads an active life that would rival many much younger than him.

Rather than focusing on the better-known traditions, Mr Lanfranco guides me through some more obscure Eastertide rituals.

He explains how both Christmas and Easter, the two biggest feasts of the Catholic faith, are both connected with birth, with a new beginning, and both have a period of preparation for the big day.

The Lenten activities we are used to today are somewhat grander than those pre-1950s. It was after the 1960s that costumes and statues were thrown into the mix and processions emulated a live show.

“After the war, people were not as poor thanks to the development of social aid and the readjustment of wages, so they could afford to contribute to the success of their town’s procession,” explains Mr Lanfranco.

It is also interesting to note how Easter Saturday used to be celebrated pre-Vatican Council II.

Today there are no activities on Holy Saturday, and although there is a service on this day, it is held in the evening in anticipation of Easter Sunday.

People celebrated the resurrection of Christ in ways that might be considered strange today: this included pulling their children from their legs and shoulders so that they would grow

Celebrations used to begin as soon as the priest recited the Gloria. Jubilant activities followed: bells, which had been silenced during last days of Lent, were rung, people banged their chairs in church, fasting ended – people were free to eat as much and when they liked – therefore butchers and grocers celebrated by making noise with their knives and tools to celebrate the return of business, and in harbours horns were hooted and sirens alarmed to celebrate end of Lent. All church paintings and statues that had been covered in purple shrouds were uncovered.

At home, people celebrated the resurrection of Christ in ways that might be considered strange today: this included pulling their children from their legs and shoulders so that they would grow. Some mothers would tell their children to go up and down stairs several times, for the same reason.

Speaking of children, one has to mention Easter sweets. We still make the biscuits with marzipan - figolli - and we still attempt to not eat them before Easter Sunday. In the past a frequent feature of the Christ Risen celebration on Easter Sunday was a man or woman who would go around with a tray with a few figolli on it. A top with numbers would be spun and the Easter sweet went to the person who had picked the winning number.

Mr Lanfranco mentions a longer list of traditions, including the giving of bulluttini (small sheets of paper, like receipts) to the ‘worthy’ faithful.

He recalls how “as Catholics we are obliged to have one Communion and confession associated with Easter.

In the past, the Church had a monitoring system to see that people fulfilled this requirement. The parish priest would go round homes and check whether he had seen the people at Mass and whether they had been of good conduct.”

If they passed the test they would be given a bulluttin which they then had to present at Mass. They were then given another card, a sort of receipt, which they would then have to present the following year to the parish priest. And so it went on like that.

Thankfully, things have evolved and the priest’s visit after Easter is to bless the house. However, comments Mr Lanfranco, this monitoring process sometimes still occurs in some parishes.

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